In ice hockey, especially at the NHL level, you need a lot of self-confidence. When skilled players play with fierce confidence even in tight situations, it often shows in the results. The difference between a good and an exceptional player comes from the fact that a top player does not lose faith in himself due to failures.
Representing Arizona Matias Maccelli, 23, has been part of that series of players whose confidence has been cast in concrete since his junior years. The winger from Turku, who has become one of the NHL’s playmaking elite, dares to try tricks and passes in tough places that many would fail to do.
On the other hand, sometimes the game turns to a false pass in the own area, with the result that the red light comes on behind the own goal.
– I have changed my playing a bit. You can’t always throw a knuckleball in the middle area, but I still wanted to stick to my own style. It has been an important thing for me. I wouldn’t be here (in the NHL) if I had started to change something, says Maccelli.
Maccelli has really stuck to his idiosyncratic style of play. Maccelli’s ability to slow down and rhythm the game, which fascinates many, is reminiscent of old-time hockey. The passes are precise to the millimeter, hard and often spectacular flats.
– It comes from yard games. There has been a lot on the outside ice, and when there were no goalkeepers, the playing became gimmicks and passes, says Maccelli.
The court playing background can really be seen not only in Maccelli’s skill levels, but also in his really smooth movement on the ice. Maccelli, who grew into a top player in Arizona at a fast pace, has a high-quality blade and allows him to spin away from underneath.
“It’s been fought with quite a lot”
However, mere technical know-how is not always enough. There is something extraordinary about Maccelli’s personality. Even at the NHL level, Arizona’s Finnish star exudes a kind of quiet confidence in all situations. This doesn’t need to make a big fuss about itself, but in decisive moments Maccelli wants the puck on his shoulder. Confidence seems to be cast in concrete.
– I would say that self-confidence has been cast well. You have to trust and believe that you are one of the best on the field. You have to believe that you can do things there. If you don’t believe, then nothing will ever happen. The head is the biggest thing at this level, that you can be confident and think about yourself in such a way that you can solve games.
The edges have naturally also had to be honed over the years in order to be able to play at the highest level.
– Those teenage years were not easy, coached Maccellia in TPS juniors Hermanni Vidman recalled to Urheilu in April.
– We got together pretty hard at times when we learned what it’s like to be a team player, that there is more to the game than passes and points, said Vidman, who is part of the Ässie coaching team.
Maccelli always remembers that in the end he gained the trust of the coaching staff.
– There have been many discussions with the coaches. In every team and series, always at the beginning. When there’s a new coach, team, and that knucklehead stays on that blue surface, that’s what’s going to be said. There have been fights with quite a few coaches, Maccelli recalls.
– But that coach has always started to trust when he doesn’t constantly repeat mistakes. When trust is created, then you can try to win games even in more difficult places.
The most difficult place for the player from Turku was in the AHL three years ago. Although he had played through the SM league, so to speak, the NHL dream required adopting the North American style.
– AHL was the most difficult place. In the league, it’s easy to keep the puck and create chances when there’s a lot of time and space, but in the AHL, that’s not the case. The game is more difficult to make and it still had a new team and coach. I couldn’t keep losing the puck on blue. We had to find a golden mean, when to make a game and when to play simply.
Maccelli is the type of player with whom the coach has to accept a certain amount of risk and mistakes. The golden mean seems to have been found first in the AHL and now in the NHL. Maccelli does not take an impossible amount of risks, especially in critical moments of the match, even if it is allowed.
– It seems that in the end I have always received that trust in my career. That’s how I get to try and dare to try things. I’ve been allowed to be pretty free, Maccelli thanks.
The artist’s focus on the essential
Although Matias Maccelli’s player self shows itself as artistic through creativity and passing skills, there have not been any other cracks in the artist’s nature, at least at the NHL level. According to the player himself, growth has taken place on this side as well.
– When I was younger, it was more visible. I got frustrated very easily, mostly with my own doing, if things didn’t go well. I’ve pretty much grown out of it.
Outside the trough, Maccelli does not see himself as an artist.
– I wouldn’t say that now. I’m pretty relaxed and I don’t really take stress from anything. It suits this job quite well here. When I leave the hall, I don’t think about game stuff or really even want to talk about hockey. It creates a good balance. If you were to think about hockey all the time, it would be too much for you at some point, he says.
In his spare time, the artist takes it easy.
– 99 percent of free time is just relaxing and resting. Maybe we go out to dinner sometimes, or if there are several days off, you can go play nine holes of golf.